Laryngoscope



(No Model.) H' B SHERIDAN.

LARYNGOSOOPE.

INVENTOR Patented May 27, 1884.

I WITNESSES:

ATTORNEY N, PETERS. Pholo-Lilhogmphnn Waihinglon. [1Cv linrrnn drains Parana (intros..

HENRY B. SHERIDAN, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

LARYNGOSCOPE.

FSPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 299,277, dated May 27, 1884:.

Application filed June .28, 1853 No model.) i

To LtZZ whom it may concern.-

. duced into a persons mouth, and after its in- Be it known that LHENRY B. SHERIDAN, a citizen of .Great Britain, and a resident of Cleveland, in the county of Guyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Laryngoscopes, of

which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide an improved device for temporarily illuminating the interior of the mouth and throat to facilitate the examination of the larynx, and for similar other purposes incidental to medical and surgical treatment.

The invention consists in the construction and combination of parts, whereby a vacuumlens or hollow reflectingvessel containing a body capable of becoming incandescent by an electric circuit may be conveniently introtroduction an electric light may be produced within the said lens by depressing a circuitbreaker arranged upon the handle by which the instrument is held, as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 rep resents a side view of my improved laryngescope held in position for ready use. Fig. 2

is a plan View, broken out in the horizontal section line y y of Fig. 1. Figs. 3, 4, and 5 are cross sections of the same, taken, respectively, through the lines at n, 0 ,3), 4 of Figs. 1 and 2, and seen in the'direction of arrow 1. Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail section of the vacuunrlens, taken on the line a" x of Fig.2. Figs. 7, 8, and 9 are detail plan views of the said lens, showing three different modifications of arranging therein the platina or other wire capable of being made incandescent by the electric current.

A is the handle, preferably made of rubber or other non'conductor.

Upon the forward end of the handle A is secured, by a suitable ferrule, a, a fork, B, between the ends of the prongs b of which latter is held or pivoted a vacuum-lens, G. This is a hollow transparent vessel, preferably of glass, and of the shape of cross-section shown in Fig. 6, but mainly round or circular in plan view, as in Figs. 7, 8, and 9.

' From the ends of the prongs I) a platinum wire, 0, passes centrally through the hollow lens 0, the glass, where the wire enters, being fused on the latter, or other means provided for making the connection air-tight.

In order to gain surface, the platinum wire 5 5 c is coiled within the lens 0, or looped, as shown in Fig. 8, or placed zigzag, as shown in Fig. 9; or it may be arranged in any other shape to effect the same purpose.

Upon the interior upper spherical surface Along the inside of the prongs Z),with their I ends in metallic connection with the wire 0,

are arranged strips of metal, E E, which thence enter through the ferrule a and the end of the handle A, the said strips being insulated from each other, and the strip E ending at 6, while the strip E runs along the handle a little dis- 7 5 tance until it ends in metallic connection with the negative wire by means of a binding-post,

' c. On the opposite side of the handle A the positive wire is connected by a binding-post,

f, with a metal strip, F, which latter is insu- 8o lated from the strip E, but is pressed by a screw, 9, into metallic connection with another screw or pin,G, against the upper end of which latter the'contact is formed by the circuitbreaker. is wider at 0 than the strip E, and is of width sufficient to fill the inner diameter of the ferrule a, and is, moreover, )rovided there with a lip, 0 which is in metallic connection with the ferrule, as shown in Fig. 3, and. the said 0 metallic connection is continued through the ferrule a and the forward end of the spring'H, which is secured upon the said ferrule by a ring, h, and has at its rear end a little knob or handle, I, in juxtaposition to the end of the 5 screw G. The spring H, when in its normal position, is curved up a little, as in Fig. 1, so as to be out of contact with the said screw G. The said spring II acts as the circuit-breaker,

the circuit being closed by depressing the knob too The lens being thus made, the air 6 5 For this purpose the metal strip E 8 5 I, as indicated. in Fig. 1, until contact is produced with the screw G, and the circuit being broken, on the withdrawal of the pressure, by the elasticity of the spring itself. The front and rear portions of the handle A are joined together within the ferrule J, which is bored to receive the aforesaid binding-posts of, and furthermore strengthened by an other ring, j.

The electric wires being connectedto a battery or other suitable electrical source, the operation of the device is easily understood. The instrument being held in the hand, as shown in Fig. 1, and introduced into a persons mouth, the knob I is depressed by the first finger, causing the electric current from the negative wire to pass through the strip E, the

'platinum'wire c, the strip E, and the spring H, andthence through the screw G and strip F, to and through the positive wire and the battery or other electric source. The electric current makes the-wire c incandescent, and the light therefrom is reflected, by means of the planished platinum reflector D,th rough the hollow vacuum-lens O, and illuminates the objects before it.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. A laryngoscope or similar optic instrument, consisting of a transparent hollow or concave lens, 0, a handle supporting the said lens, an electro-incandescent substance, 0, arranged inside of the said hollow lens, and means, substantially as described, for placing the said substance in a circuit, for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination of the hollow reflectorlens 0, arranged on forks b in a handle, A, the

I platinum wire or its equivalent 0, arranged inside of the said hollow lens, the conductors E E, arranged in or about the handle A, a circuit-breaker, H G, and means for forming connection with an electric source, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony that I claim the-foregoingas my invention-I have signed my name, in presence 

